on finding hidden gems

I was doing a bit of thrifting on Saturday at the gigantic Hospice Flea Market Store.  I was there for well over an hour, combing through all of the goodies, looking for hidden treasures. It always strikes me when going through a store like this, just chock full of people’s cast-offs, that ALL of this stuff was once in someone’s home. Some of it probably should have gone to the garbage rather than being donated and some of it is pretty junky, but at some point someone paid good money for this stuff and valued it enough to keep it in their home. I always get a secret rush when I discover a gem in a store like this. What I found on this weekend was truly a gem and it was free! While going through tables of “stuff” I found that someone had taken the time to hand-write notes and leave them stuffed inside an item or hidden in crannies. Some notes were of a religious nature but most were words of encouragement, meant to lift up the reader. I must have come across a dozen notes, all in the same hand, tucked away in the oddest, most secret places. I read them, and then put them back in their hiding place. Each one made me smile but what meant the most was that someone had taken the time to do this for people that they don’t even know, an act of kindness for which they’ll never see the outcome.